Bleeding Out
by Revhead
Summary: Cas is injured on a hunt. Dean isn't coping. Destiel.


**Bleeding Out**

"Here, let me take him," Sam said, trying to extract Cas from Dean's arms.

Dean flung him the keys to the Impala instead. "You're driving."

Sam didn't argue. He popped open the back door and helped Dean climb inside without jostling Cas too much. He reached in to secure the seatbelts around them as best he could.

"Dean-" Cas choked out.

Dean's face was tight with worry, but he didn't let the emotion seep into his voice. "Shh, it's okay. You'll be okay. Just hold on."

Cas curled his hand around Dean's own where it was pressed against the gaping wound in his stomach. Blood continued to soak steadily through the make-shift bandage, but his blue eyes held so much trust as he stared up at Dean. "Alright."

Dean's answering smile was agonising to witness. "Alright. That's it. You keep fighting." He looked up at Sam, desperation written all over his face. "We need to be at the hospital. Right the hell now."

Sam closed the door and vaulted over the hood to reach the driver's side. He ignored his own seatbelt in favour of haste, gunning the engine and spinning out onto the road with a screech of tires.

"Faster, Sam," Dean said urgently. "You need to go faster."

Sam was already going 20 over the speed limit but he pressed the pedal of the accelerator to the floor. Screw the road laws. The closest hospital was more than ten miles away and Cas might not last that long.

"D-Dean. It hurts."

"I know." There was a break in his voice. Sam glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Dean struggling to hold back tears. "But I've got you. I've got you and I'm not letting go."

They hit the town and Sam ran two red lights in succession. He had to swerve around a truck and horns blared loudly in protest but he wasn't slowing down for anything.

Castiel's breathing was ragged but he forced words out anyway. "I'm – sorry."

"What the hell for?"

"For… losing my Grace. If I hadn't… this never would have happened. I'm sorry-"

"Don't," Dean snapped. "Cas, this isn't your fault. I should have-" He cut himself off, but Sam could hear what went unspoken. Dean thought he was the one to blame. Even though the attack had come out of nowhere, even though Dean had put a bullet between the beast's eyes almost immediately. But the werewolf's claws had already ripped through Cas. He went down and the beast went down on top of him and when they heaved it off there was so much blood and Cas was screaming.

Sam hoped to God that he would never hear that sound ever again. Not the least because it had been followed by a soul-wrenching cry as Dean fell to his knees beside him.

In that moment Sam had realised that if they lost Cas it would destroy Dean, completely and irrevocably.

He was already falling apart.

"Almost there," Sam said, hurtling recklessly around a corner.

"Hurry," Dean stressed.

He risked another glance back. Cas was drastically pale and his head was lolling against Dean's chest.

Sam threw caution into the wind and jerked the car into the opposite lane to speed past the law-abiding citizens in front of him. Oncoming traffic blasted their horns but he just put on a burst of speed. They slammed on their brakes and Sam zipped back into his lane a split second before they would have crashed.

"Cas, dammit, hold on! You are not dying on me, you hear? I won't let you. You fight, dammit, fight!"

But Cas was limp in Dean's arms.

Sam wrenched his gaze back to the road, focusing on the hospital he could see up ahead. He tried not to hear Dean's demands for Cas to "Wake up, damn you, wake up! Don't you dare leave me."

He swerved into one of the Emergency bays and had barely turned off the ignition before he was out of the car and hollering for help.

Someone tried to tell him he couldn't park there. Sam flashed a badge, any badge, he didn't care. "Get a stretcher and this hospital's best doctor here IMMEDIATELY."

Dean was struggling to get Cas out of the car without losing pressure on his wounds. Sam was at his side in an instant, taking the bulk of Castiel's weight and getting him clear of the vehicle.

The stretcher and half a dozen medical personnel arrived a few seconds later to rush them inside.

"What happened?"

Dean didn't answer, too fixated on Cas to hear what was going on around them, so Sam spoke up. "Animal attack. Out in the woods. A wolf I think."

"How long ago?"

"Fifteen minutes. Eighteen tops."

The doctor pursed his lips. "We'll do what we can."

Suddenly attentive, Dean grabbed the doctor's coat and hauled him closer. "You'll save him," he growled. "Or so help me-"

"Dean!" Sam pulled him off, waving a hand to let the security guards know he would handle this. "They're going to do everything they can for him. We need to let them do their jobs."

Dean looked volatile enough to hit him, but Sam kept a hand on his arm and a firm expression on his face until reason pushed its way back to the forefront. Dean backed off.

"I'm sorry-"

"I understand that you're worried, but your friend is in good hands."

Dean nodded wordlessly, and then the stretcher was gone, swinging doors blocking their view.

Adrenaline was still pumping fiercely, but there was nothing more they could do. It was all up to the surgeons now.

Sam forced a few gulps of air into his lungs and willed his heart to stop racing. "Come on, Dean. Let's find a seat in the waiting room."

But Dean was frozen in place. His shirt and jeans were soaked with blood. His hands were covered in it.

"Maybe we should get you cleaned up first," Sam said gently.

Dean stared down at his hands, as though noticing the red stains for the first time. "That's not my blood."

"Come on, Dean, we'll go to the bathroom and wash up-"

"Cas needs his blood. He's human now. He can't go spilling his blood everywhere. He needs it."

"The doctors will set up an I.V. They'll handle it, Dean."

"Do they even know his blood type? I don't know his blood type."

"They'll work it out. Dean, this is what they do, we just have to let them do it. Come on, you're scaring the other people in here."

"Scaring them," Dean whispered. He turned wide green eyes on his brother. "Sammy, I'm scared."

Sam's heart clenched. "I know. I am too. But Cas is a fighter. He's going to pull through."

"He's human now. He can't just power up and get better. He could – Sam, what if he-"

Sam grasped his shoulders. "Don't. Don't think about that. He promised us he was going to stick around, remember?"

"I remember. But-"

"Cas always tries his damnedest to keep his promises. Don't give up on him."

That sparked something in Dean, pushing past the fear and the grief to burn stubborn and hot inside of him. "Never," he said fiercely.

"Okay, then. You go wash up, I'm going to move the car and grab some spare clothes for you out of the trunk."

Dean nodded, but there was a slight edge of panic in his eyes. He didn't want to be left alone.

"I'll be right back. You just need to take this a step at a time, okay?"

Dean drew in a breath. "I'm going to go wash up."

Sam gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze of encouragement. "Be back in a minute."

He returned to find Dean scrubbing furiously at the blood on his hands and chest, his shirt already discarded on the floor of the bathroom. He had his teeth clamped down hard on his lower lip, obviously still freaking out but trying to contain it.

Sam knew that helping too much would undermine Dean's attempts to hold himself together, so he just stood by patiently and held out the clean clothes when Dean was ready for them. He made no comment about the way Dean's hands were shaking as he did up the buttons.

"You ready?" he asked.

Dean nodded. "Now what?"

"Now we better fill out some paperwork," Sam said apologetically.

Dean visibly pulled on a mask of composure and led the way out to the admin desk.

On the form he filled out the name as 'Castiel Winchester' without so much as a beat of hesitation.

"Is he your brother?" the nurse asked as Dean handed over his insurance card.

"Partner," Dean corrected. He said it easily, automatically, as if this wasn't the first time he had referred to Cas in such a way.

Sam thought that maybe he should have been surprised. But if the way Dean felt about Cas hadn't been obvious before, it was well out in the open now.

A light blush coloured the nurse's cheeks. "I see. We'll let you know as soon as there is any news."

"Thank you," Dean said stiffly.

They took their seats in the waiting room.

Hours passed, and each one felt like an eternity, before a doctor finally appeared.

"Family of – 'Castiel Winchester'?"

Dean and Sam both stood up.

"How is he?" Dean asked tightly.

Sam held his breath.

"We had a few close calls, but he's stable now. Barring any complications from the surgery, he should make a full recovery."

Dean staggered, as though relief had literally crashed over him.

"Can we see him?" Sam asked.

"He's still unconscious-"

"Doc, please," Dean rasped.

The doctor looked at him carefully, and he must have seen something in his eyes because he relented. "Okay. But only a short visit, mind you."

Sam doubted very much that Dean would stick to that, but he offered his thanks nevertheless.

They were led to Castiel's room. Dean braced himself before he pushed open the door, but the sight was still horrifying.

The angel who had once seemed larger than life was now dwarfed by his hospital bed, pale-faced, wrapped in bandages and swamped by tubes and wires.

"God, Cas," Dean whispered. He sat down by Castiel's bedside and took his hand. "Don't scare me like that."

Sam stood in the corner; he didn't want to intrude on this moment but he was determined to watch over his brother and his angel. They needed to know that they were not alone.

"Now who's the one who needs sleep, hmm?" Dean asked gently. "Don't worry, Cas. I'll be right here when you wake up. It's an appointment, okay? I'll be here, and you're going to wake up. You're going to be fine, you hear me?"

Cas was still and silent, but the heart monitor beeped reassuringly in the background.

Dean glanced up at the ceiling. A single tear slipped down his cheek, but he scrubbed it away and refocused on Cas. "I have something important to tell you, but I'm not going to be one of those losers who makes bedside confessions when the other person can't hear it. So if you want to know what it is, you're just going to have to get better."

Sam smiled faintly. He had a good idea of what it was already.


End file.
